As we ring out the old year and ring in the new, it will surely be a “new” year when it comes to state government in Tennessee.

Fifteen to twenty percent of the current members of the Legislature have announced their retirement at the end of the upcoming legislative session, including the state’s longest-serving Representative, the Chairs of the House’s two Education Committees and its Finance Committee, and the Speaker of the House.

With a new Speaker of the House, who makes all committee assignments, and so many new legislators, there will be significant changes on virtually every legislative committee, where the real work of the Legislature is done.

But that’s not all. We will also be electing a new governor who will appoint a new cabinet.

The year 2018 will indeed be a new year in state government.

The FACT Report, featured on several conservative radio stations, is a weekly one-minute audio commentary about a political or cultural issue affecting Tennesseans.

https://factn.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/FACTReport-Revised-icon.jpg240568David Fowlerhttps://factn.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/FACT-Web-Banner-AI-2.pngDavid Fowler2017-12-26 17:30:092018-01-15 19:50:22FACT Report: Ringing in the New Year

It is Christmas week, and the Family Action Council of Tennessee would like to offer the following politically correct greeting to those who think saying “Merry Christmas” is insensitive.

Please feel how you want to feel about this season of the year. But please do not feel like you have to feel anything at all about this time of year or feel like you have to have any feelings about any other time of year if you do not feel like feeling anything right now. And, of course, feel free not to feel anything at any time if that’s how you feel, in which case we hope nothing or no one interferes with how you are feeling or not feeling at the time you choose to be feeling or not feeling something.

But to everyone else, we say, “Merry Christmas!”

The FACT Report, featured on several conservative radio stations, is a weekly one-minute audio commentary about a political or cultural issue affecting Tennesseans.

On December 13th, a judge in Bradley County, Tennessee, will be asked to answer a question that no other court in American has been asked—on the basis of what authority can a state official issue a marriage license when the Supreme Court held two years ago that marriage license statutes like Tennessee’s are constitutionally invalid?

For more than a year, state officials have issued marriage licenses on the assumption that our law not only remains valid, despite what the Supreme Court specifically said, but that the law has been changed to authorize same-sex “marriage” licenses.

Last week, in anticipation of the hearing, the trial judge said the plaintiffs had asked a legitimate legal question that must be answered. It will be interesting to see what that answer is. It could just shake everything up in the legal community

The FACT Report, featured on several conservative radio stations, is a weekly one-minute audio commentary about a political or cultural issue affecting Tennesseans.

A recent Pew Research poll revealed some shocking information about the war on God’s creation of the two sexes. When asked whether someone is a man or a woman based on his or her sex at birth, only 54 percent said yes. Forty-four percent think someone can be a man or woman regardless of his or her birth sex.

While there are rare instances of biological ambiguity at birth, not too long ago, few would have questioned that we were born male or female.

What we have to appreciate is that the heart of this issue is whether we believe God assigns meaning to created things or we get to determine their meaning. The “gender” debate is just a variation on the theme of humanity’s original sin, the desire to put ourselves in the place of God.

The FACT Report, featured on several conservative radio stations, is a weekly one-minute audio commentary about a political or cultural issue affecting Tennesseans.

With all that’s happening in our country, it’s hard to find much that’s encouraging. Thankfully, God gave us the book of Psalms.

Throughout the Psalms, we see portraits of betrayal, abandonment, and despair, yet they don’t end with such melancholy expressions, since the Psalmist remembers the goodness of God and His sovereignty over all things.

And that is what we need to do as well. During this season of Thanksgiving, we must remember Paul’s exhortation to the Thessalonians. We must examine all the things going on around us and not only evaluate them with sober judgment, but also remember to hold fast to the good.

When we’re not sure what the good is, then we hold onto the knowledge that our God is good and He is working all things together for our eternal good and His glory.

The FACT Report, featured on several conservative radio stations, is a weekly one-minute audio commentary about a political or cultural issue affecting Tennesseans.

Family Action Council of Tennessee

The Family Action Council of Tennessee (FACT) is an IRS-designated 501(c)(3) charitable education organization. All donations are tax deductible for income tax reporting purposes.
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